


Amortentia

by cherryblossomphil



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, M/M, YouTube
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-04
Updated: 2015-06-04
Packaged: 2018-04-02 20:16:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4072948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherryblossomphil/pseuds/cherryblossomphil
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Ben is a Metamorphmagus, Phil can't pinpoint that amazing scent he's smelling, and Jack just wants to finish his potion in peace.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Amortentia

“Oi, Lester – bet you five Galleons I can steal a flask of Amortentia before class ends.”

Phil looks up from his Potions book. A few feet away, Ben waggles his eyebrows mischievously and jerks his head towards the bubbling cauldron of pearly liquid in front of them. He opens his mouth to answer, but another voice cuts him off.

“Pfft, you can steal an entire apothecary’s worth of Amortentia and it wouldn’t help your game, Cook.”

Ben scowls, his hair turning as red as the tie around his neck. “Shut it, Howard, no need to be rude.”

“S’true, though. Right, Phil?”

Phil chuckles as his Potions partner stirs their cauldron. “I’m not saying anything. Last time I took sides between you two, half my eyebrows burned off.” He snorts at the sound of the Gryffindor’s indignant scoff, turning back to his book once more and scanning the instructions.

The Potions classroom is stiflingly hot today with dozens of students crammed into the dungeons for the first class of the new school year. Phil’s not sure what to make of their new teacher, but judging from the plethora of intricate potions scattered around the room, he’s pretty sure Professor Slughorn knows his stuff.

It’s too bad that the same can’t be said for Phil – Potions was never his strongest suit. They’re supposed to be preparing a perfect batch of Draught of Living Death, but somewhere along the line he’d added too much powdered root of asphodel and not enough sloth brain, and he’d accidentally stirred it anti-clockwise instead of visa-versa.  Jack had taken one look at the brown sludge in his cauldron and vanished it away, conceding to letting Phil share his own batch before his concoction ‘blow the entire castle up’.

Phil sighs. With Jack doing all the work, the Hufflepuff’s stuck staring at his textbook and pretending like he knows what he’s doing, handing his partner necessary ingredients and making vague comments every time the teacher passes by. They’ve got another half-hour in this class and he’s bored out of his mind. Glancing up, he catches sight of the cauldron of Amortentia again and bites his lip, entranced by its pearly sheen.

It’s the most powerful love potion in the world, Slughorn had stated at the beginning of class. Powerful enough to create an infatuation so strong, it overpowered reason and instinct. Phil’s never held much stock in love potions, but he has time to kill and there’s nothing better for him to do, anyway. And Ben’s notoriously terrible at being sneaky, so he’s in for a laugh. After ensuring that Professor Slughorn’s preoccupied at the front of the room, Phil crumples up a spare piece of parchment and chucks it at Ben’s head.

“ _Psst_.”

The Gryffindor looks up, annoyed. Phil shrugs his shoulders in apology before pointing at the cauldron of Amortentia and holding up five fingers. Ben’s face breaks into a grin.

“You’re on, mate.”

Phil watches as the redhead sneaks towards the cupboard on the back wall, keeping a wary eye on their teacher for signs of acknowledgment.  Ben manages to snag two flasks from the drawer without drawing attention to himself, but trips over a few stray book bags on his way back. He bumps into Phil’s table with a grunt, jolting Jack’s cauldron and spilling its insides across the wood.

“What the- !”

Phil’s fellow Hufflepuff cries out in exasperation as the potion spreads down the table. He turns to glare at Ben, but Phil sees Slughorn pause and he blanches, quickly clamping his hand across his partner’s mouth.

“ _Shh, shh_ , it’s fine, I’ll clean it up, just –“

“Everything alright back there, boys?”

Phil gulps. Professor Slughorn is looking at them with raised eyebrows. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Ben crawling back to his seat.

“Perfectly fine, sir. Sorry about that. Jack just bumped the table, that’s all.”

Jack whines in protest. Phil tightens his grip on his mouth. Professor Slughorn narrows his eyes, but turns away nonetheless. Phil sighs with relief.

Beside him, Jack wrenches away. “Git. What the hell are you two doing?”

Phil rolls his eyes. “Well,  _I’m_  trying to make five Galleons. So calm down and keep an eye on Slughorn for me, and I’ll give you half.” He hears his friend mumble something in reply, but Ben’s making his way towards the cauldron and his heart is pounding with anticipation.

The redhead smirks as he reaches the cauldron, pulling a flask from his robe and glancing at Phil. The Hufflepuff tsks impatiently.

“Well, get on with it then.” He mutters.

“Alright, alright. Don’t get your knickers in a twist.” Taking a deep breath, Ben plunges the flask into the cauldron and pulls it back up. The glass is filled to the brim with pearl-white liquid and he smiles triumphantly.

“And just  _what_  do you think you’re doing, Mr. Cook??”

The pair of them whip around to find Professor Slughorn towering over them, hands on his hips. Ben jumps in surprise and the flask flies out of his hand.  Phil’s barely registered the Amortentia spilling through the air before it splatters against him, drenching his robes. The flask falls to the floor with a smash.

Ben’s hair turns white with shock. “Sir- I can explain!”

Phil hears the Gryffindor stutter through an apology, but a wave of something pleasant-smelling suddenly engulfs him and he stops paying attention. It’s incredible, the smell – an overpowering scent of cherries and cinnamon and sunflowers and the laundry detergent his mother uses and…  _something else_. Phil inhales deeply, confused. There was another scent, one unlike he’s ever smelled before. Something heady, something musky, something… something  _warm_. That’s the word he’s looking for. It smells like being enveloped in a tight hug, or basking in the sunlight on a summer day. It smells like bed sheets fresh from the dryer and hot showers after a thunderstorm.

It’s absolutely intoxicating.

Phil inhales once more, desperate to identify the source of the mysterious scent, but a cross voice brings him back to reality.

“-absolutely unacceptable! Five points from Gryffindor  _and_  Hufflepuff.” Professor Slughorn’s face is a nasty shade of red. “Mr. Cook, I’ll see you after class for detention, and Mr. Lester?” Phil jolts out of his thoughts. “I’ll see  _you_  as well.”

The bell rings. Slughorn stalks away and Phil sighs, turning to face Jack with disbelief. Ben stands beside him, wearing a similar expression.

“I thought you said you were gonna keep watch!”

Jack shrugs apologetically. “He snuck up on me!”

Ben throws his Potions book at him.

-

Detention makes Phil late to his next class.

He’s running down the corridor, panting under his breath and tripping over his robes. Slughorn had them washing cauldrons by hand, an absolutely torturous and time-consuming task. The Hufflepuff can still feel the slime on his palms and there’s bound to be traces of Sopophorous Beans underneath his fingernails but there’s no time to dwell on it; his Transfiguration class is on the other side of the castle and it started five minutes ago.

Phil turns the corner, too busy running through various excuses for his lateness in his head to realize there’s another student in his way. The two of them collide with a crash, books and papers scattering across the hallway. Phil lands on his back with a grunt. His eyes close in pain.

“Ow, bloody hell…”

There’s a similar noise of distress beside him. The Hufflepuff cracks an eye open to see the other guy strewn across the floor in a similar position, hands clutching his forehead. A green tie hangs around his neck and Phil gulps; he’s not too fond of Slytherins.

Cautiously, he nudges his foot against the other boy’s shin. “Hey, uhh… you okay?”

Slowly, the Sytherin turns to look at him, pulling his hands away from his face. Deep chestnut eyes meet Phil’s, and he exhales in surprise. The boy’s eyes are incredibly dark, irises like pools of melted chocolate. There’s an intensity within them that’s almost intimidating, but Phil senses a kindness that’s not usually found in Slytherins, and he can’t help but feel captivated.

He’s also seen this guy before, he’s  _sure_  of it.

Only he doesn’t know  _where_.

“Uhh, yeah, I think so..” The Slytherin replies, reaching up again to rub at his temple. Phil blinks dazedly before a wave of recognition washes over him.

“Oh wait, aren’t you in my Potions class?” That’s where Phil knows him from; he sits in the front of the room, catches his eye sometimes whenever he enters the dungeon. Dan _… something_. Howlter? Howler? He’s not sure; he  _is_  cute, though. Phil’s always thought so, but never acted on it because of their differing houses.

“Yup. Aren’t you the one who tried to steal Amortentia earlier today?”

Phil blushes. “Technically, it was Ben. I was just an accessory to the crime.” He sits up gingerly, wincing at the ache in his lower back. “Sorry about running into you, by the way. I was a little preoccupied.”

“S’fine, don’t worry about it.”

The Hufflepuff reaches over to help the other boy up. A warm hand grasps his and Dan rocks forward. The momentum throws him off-balance and he falls sideways onto Phil with a grunt.

“ _Shit,_  sorry-“

Phil chuckles. “It’s fine, I-“ He cuts off, eyes widening in surprise. He  _smells_  it again, that same warm scent from before. Only this time it’s stronger – so much so that he’s positive it’s not leftover fumes from his still drying robes. Phil looks around wildly, searching for the source until his eyes fall back on Dan. The other boy is still struggling to his feet, but Phil grabs him by the wrist and yanks him back down again.

“ _Woah_  what the fu-“

Phil buries his face into Dan’s hair and pulls back with a gasp. “It’s  _you!_  You’re the one with the smell!”

Dan yanks his arm back and stands up, alarmed. “ _Excuse me?”_

The Hufflepuff makes a face, scrambling to his feet. “Sorry, that came out wrong. Kinda made it sound like you smell bad, or something –  _which you don’t_!” he adds, seeing the look on Dan’s face. “You smell great, actually, it’s not-“ Phil sighs. “Let me explain.”

Dan raises an eyebrow. “Please do.”

“Okay, so you know how Ben tried to steal Amortentia in class today?”  The other boy nods. “Well, when Slughorn caught us he ended up spilling a bunch of the potion on me, and it smelled  _amazing_ , you wouldn’t believe it – it was like all the things I loved had been blended together to create perfume. But there was this one scent that I couldn’t really figure out, and I don’t know how to describe it. It was kind of like…  _warm_? Like, what you would imagine warm would smell like? Sorry, I hope this is making sense to you.”

“It isn’t.”

Phil huffs. “Well it smelled fantastic, and I didn’t know what it was until now –it’s you!” He grabs Dan’s arm again and smells his wrist. “What cologne do you use, or is it your shampoo or something?”

The Sytherin blushes. “I don’t use cologne or stuff like that. I’m pretty sure that’s just how I smell.”

Phil pauses, looking up. “Wait, really?” He drops the other boy’s hand and steps back. “Then why did I smell it in the potion?”

“Well, I remember Slughorn saying that Amortentia does change its scent to match whatever the intended drinker’s favorite smells are,” Dan supplies, scratching his head. “And sometimes it matches the scent of the drinker’s object of affection…”

Phil regards him curiously, the information sinking in. “Wait, so does that mean… you’re the object of my affection?”

The Slytherin looks down shyly. “I mean, probably not – you don’t even know me.”

“But I’d like to.” The words fall from Phil’s mouth before he realizes it, and he’s surprised by how true the statement is. Dan is intriguing, and he’s bloody fit. Phil’s impressed.

The other boy blushes even harder, and Phil’s heart flips. “That was smooth. You say that to all the guys you smell?”

The Hufflepuff grins cheekily. “Only the ones that smell good.”

Dan laughs as the bell rings again, signaling the end of class. Phil groans; he’s missed Transfiguration, and his stuff is still all over the floor. Not a good start to his school year.

Beside him, Dan gasps.

“Shit, I have Quidditch practice-“ He picks up his books of the floor with haste, slinging his bag over his shoulder and turning away.

“Hey, wait!” Phil grabs him by the hand and pulls him back. The other boy turns around, eyes hopeful.

“Yes?”

Phil swallows hard, suddenly nervous. “Would you… like to go down to Hogsmeade with me? Maybe on Saturday, if you’re not busy? We can get a Butterbeer or something, whatever you want. Or a cuppa, if you don’t like Butterbeer, that’s fine with me too, it’s up to-“

Dan cuts off his rambling with a giggle. “Butterbeer sounds lovely, I’m looking forward to it.” He pulls his hand free and sticks it out in front of him. “I’m Dan, by the way. Dan Howell.”

“Phil Lester.” They shake hands, and Phil can’t help the wide grin on his face. “So I’ll see you Saturday?”

“Saturday,” Dan echoes happily. He drops Phil’s hand and turns away, walking down the hallway towards the Quidditch fields.

Phil watches as the other boy glances back at him with a shy smile before turning the corner and disappearing from sight. There are butterflies in his stomach, and he can’t help but laugh as he picks up his stray books and papers.

He’s got a date with a boy named Dan on Saturday  and he can’t wait.

The Amortentia on his robes is wearing off now, the smell of warmth – of  _Dan_  – becoming more and more faint. Phil doesn’t mind. He should really thank Ben; match-making was probably the last thing on the Gryffindor’s mind when he set up the bet and the guy  _did_  land him detention, but it all worked out in the end.

He  _still_  owes Phil five Galleons, though.

A bet’s a bet, after all.


End file.
